‘We will continue to bring in latest technology to India and help enhance safety and security’

Fire safety is an important aspect as it helps to save lives, improve businesses and protect people where they live and work. Tyco Integrated Fire and Security offers advance fire safety solutions and evaluates each of its clients’ specific requirements, and then help them integrate a seamless fire and security system at their organisations. Gopinath K, General Manager, Tyco Integrated Fire and Security informs more about the company’s solutions to Usha Sharma

Tell us about the core competencies of Tyco.

Tyco is dedicated to advancing fire safety and security by finding innovative ways to save lives, improve businesses and protect people where they live and work. With global reach and local expertise, we sell, design, install and maintain integrated systems to detect intrusion, control access and react to movement, fire, smoke, flooding, environmental conditions, industrial processes and other hazards. We also provide retail solutions which can be integrated with our fire and security systems. In India, we serve our customers by offering value-added services and localised solutions through our expertise in the Indian security and fire landscape. Our solutions can help commercial organisations safeguard against internal and external security threats including fire, burglary, internal theft, intrusion, organised crime, inventory loss, fleet mismanagement and workplace violence. We help protect employees, customers, facilities, assets, inventory, processes and operations with solutions that are geared to meet latest business needs, scaled to enterprise growth, and enhanced with the most intelligent information management, fire and security management solutions.

The company specialises in offering advancing fire safety and security by finding innovative ways to save lives, improve businesses and protect people where they live and work. How much of this is followed by other pharma companies?

Tyco offers the most advanced methods for securing pharmaceuticals at every point. We understand what is at stake in pharma security. The risks of financial loss are among the highest in any industry. A breach at any point in the chain can have devastating results on patients’ health. Because of their small size and huge value, combined with a robust black market, pharma are a high-reward prize for both petty thieves and organised crime. A single heist can net millions of dollars. Even worse, many drugs are sold back to legitimate pharmacies, which can put spoiled medicines into the hands of consumers. Pharma safety can be compromised at many points with theft possibilities at any point in the supply and distribution chain — from manufacturing to pharmacy shelves. Tyco working with our customers be it a manufacturer, shipper, wholesaler, retailer or medical professional, helps identify weak points and put measures to help prevent hazards against the latest

Which technologies/ services do you offer to the pharma sector and how effective are they?

Tyco brings more than a century of expertise helping to protect access to buildings, cargo and sensitive facilities. Latest developments have seen these defensive caxpertise helping to protect access to buildings, cargo and sensitive facilities. Latest developments have seen these defensive capabilities combine with the latest video and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies to monitor pharma in an unbroken chain from plant to patient. Not only do these methods help protect against outside threats, they also monitor pharma activities within facilities to help protect against internal misappropriation. In order to provide the most comprehensive, fail-safe solutions, at Tyco, we carefully evaluate each client’s specific needs, and then integrate a seamless fire and security system that can utilise many tactical elements, including state-of-the-art access control solutions which have been successfully deployed at thousands of plants, shipping hubs, airports, retail locations and other sensitive places where access must be tightly controlled. Video surveillance and recording, often featuring live monitoring by skilled professionals and backed up by easily searchable digital media, help prevent loss before it happens and provide valuable evidence should a crime occur. RFID for real-time location tracking which can be discrete and deployed with any level of granularity that you require — from trucks to crates to individual pharma packages. By knowing exactly where each shipment or package is located in real-time, it can provide not only tighter security, but a number of other inventory-control efficiencies. RFID also offers several advantages over other location information systems because it requires no action from personnel which can be overlooked or easily compromised. These are just a few of the technologies we use that have specialised pharma applications. We can also integrate the wide array of Tyco’s other fire detection, suppression and integrated security offerings used by all types of businesses. These may include: intrusion detection, monitoring, asset management, energy management, perimeter protection etc.

How big is the global fire safety and security solutions market and what is its percentage of growth in India?

The global fire and security market is around $100 billion and is highly fragmented. In India, with increasing awareness on fire safety and security issues dominating headlines, the fire and security market has seen a growth of around 16 per cent. This is expected to grow robustly in the coming years with stricter implementation of codes and standards in the fire side and enhanced security measures being put in place by governments and private institutions to prevent untoward incidents.

Which norms need to be adhered to in order to comply with the regulatory requirements? Till now how many approvals have been obtained by your company?

National Fire Protection Association, US (NFPA) guidelines are most commonly followed to design fire protection facilities, however, many Indian states require that the fire protection facilities need to comply with the National Building Code of India (NBC) which in turn refers to several Indian product standards or codes of practices. Some installations are also designed to European requirements. All of Tyco’s products and installations comply to international and/ or national standards as required. Every product of ours is designed to comply to well-accepted norms.

What major challenges did your company face with regards to fire safety and security?

The key challenges are having enforceable norms, lack of research facilities and general public awareness. The journey of fire safety and security in India has been a long one where some historic fire accidents have led to regulatory changes. Fire safety and security in India has changed leaps and bounds in the last decade, now the question is not whether a fire and security system is required or not but whether the installations work as intended. There is now an increasing awareness on fire safety and security measures and Tyco with its two decades of presence in India has contributed significantly by bringing in a century of global experience and working very closely with influencers, regulators and end-users in India on formulation and enforcement of norms.

What other services do you offer?

We offer a complete suite of intelligent electronic fire and security offers to our customers in India, including advanced life safety gears. From fire detection to suppression, access control to advanced video solutions, we offer the full spectrum of commercial fire and security products and solutions, along with the expertise to create integrated, security information management systems based on our customers’ unique requirements. We also offer specialised services in intrusion detection and 24/7 monitoring with video survillance of any premises, providing additional security.

Who are your pharma clients and who are you competitors?

Globally, we serve many leading pharma companies. In India, many leading manufacturing facilities and back-end operation centres, including corporate offices of pharma majors are our customers.

Any new technologies you want to offer to the pharma sector?

We have a range of offerings across sectors. Some of the new technologies that would be of specific interest to pharma segment is water mist suppression systems used to suppress fire without causing much collateral damage to the equipment in the room. Middleware that can monitor and control various types of sensors/ controllers can also be offered to the industry apart from leading in class technology on fire detection, suppression, access, video and energy management solutions.

What are your company’s corporate plans?

Tyco is a global organisation which provides fire, security and life safety solutions across industries, verticals and countries. It is committed to help protect people, property and businesses. The company is dedicated to advancing fire safety and security by finding innovative ways to save lives, improve businesses and protect people where they live and work. Tyco is present in India for more than two decades now. We have a strong presence in aviation, industrial and manufacturing, commercial offices, IT & ITes, retail, networking and technology spaces, pharma and healthcare segments among others. We have been associated with many countries’ prestigious projects across segments. We will continue to bring in latest technology to India and help enhance safety and security of our Indian customers with our leading products and solutions sets.

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